


We Keep This Love In A Photograph

by DreamingReality



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: A little angst, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Cuddles, Fluff, I also cannot wrap gifts, I wrote this instead of going to elf practice, Kissing, M/M, Movie Night, Pining, Sleep, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 12:26:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13166898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingReality/pseuds/DreamingReality
Summary: Heinz was thankful he got to spend a few hours of Christmas Eve with Perry, but when a blizzard hits, he might just end up with more than he bargained for





	We Keep This Love In A Photograph

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a 500 word little Christmas fic and also, actually posted on,, Christmas. Things just don't always work out like that though.

Six tries. It had taken him six tries to get this damned present wrapped before Perry came over. Okay, maybe he’d gotten it the second time. And the third. And the fourth and fifth. But they didn’t count because none of them were _neat_ enough for Perry. They looked like garbage. Complete and utter _garbage_. As a matter of fact, he himself looked like garbage, as he not gotten out of bed at all that day, and he had approximately-

“Twenty minutes until Perry the Platypus gets here!” he shrieked, setting the present carefully aside and jumping out of bed. He all but sprinted to his closet, grabbed his nicest purple sweater and some teal pajama pants (given to him by Perry for Christmas last year), and ran to the shower. In seven minutes he was showered and dressed, frantically trying to make his hair look presentable.

Done getting ready, Heinz rushed to the kitchen, skidding across the floor and almost sliding into his table in an attempt to stop, and started preparing Perry’s favorite tea and cookies. He rolled the dough he’d already prepared the night before and cut them with his platypus cookie cutter at record speed. The second he put the cookies in the oven he started on the tea. It was all a whirlwind of motion. Had anyone been watching, they would’ve seen nothing but a blur of purple and teal.

Once done, Heinz sat down for a moment to catch his breath, panting. He knew he was being a little ridiculous; this was their third Christmas together, and he shouldn’t be as nervous as a schoolboy on his first date. But it was their first as _friends_ instead of enemies, and Heinz had no idea what to do. He knew he wanted to spend the day before Christmas with Perry the Platypus (the man obviously had a family to get to Christmas day, and Heinz knew they would text anyway), but he was pretty sure Perry didn’t want to. Who would want to spend their Christmas Eve with him? He knew Perry had stayed the night at his place before and seemed to not, well, _hate_ him like Heinz had thought, but this was a holiday you generally wanna spend with people you really care about and love.

He could hope though.

On top of all that, he was nervous beyond nervous about his gift to Perry. Their first year he’d gotten him a vase. Perry insisted that he loved it, but Heinz knew it was awful. Their second year he did better, getting him another wheel of that cheese he likes so much and a gift card to the coffee shop he frequents. This year, though, they were friends, and Heinz had to do better than that. They were _friends_.

Just friends.

Just friends, except Heinz was in love with Perry. Which was partially why he was so anxious. His gift this year was a photo album filled with pictures of them, and a card with a note telling Perry how much he means to him. Of course, not _exactly_ how much he means to him. Just everything minus the feelings that Perry would inevitably not return and possibly laugh at if he found out about. So he just... wasn’t going to tell him. Ever. And that was fine.

Heinz put his head in his hands and groaned. This was going to be a long day.

He hoped the gift was a good one. He hoped Perry liked it. Most of all, he hoped he was able to get over these useless feelings that he hadn’t even _known_ about until three months ago out of nowhere; he still clearly remembered night when he’d sat up in bed at two in the morning, said “fuck”, and sat there thinking for three hours before falling back asleep. Just as he pulled himself out of his thoughts and realized he should take the cookies out of the oven, he heard the doorbell and jumped out of his seat.

“Just a _min_ ute!” he called, his voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and pulled the cookies out, taking a second to smell their warm, chocolatey scent before setting them down and running to the door.

When he opened the door he was greeted with the most unfairly _adorable_ sight he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe this. The man in front of him was clad in a way-too-oversized teal sweater and black skinny jeans that Heinz could swear were made solely to torture him. His hair was a controlled kind of messy, and he wore a cheesy smile on his face as he held his wrapped present out to Heinz.

Rolling his eyes, he invited Perry in and gestured for him to sit down on the couch.

“Hold on, your present is back here,” he said, walking back to his bedroom. He took a deep breath and grabbed the box, making sure everything looked neat before he went back out to Perry.

 _Merry Christmas Eve, Heinz,_ Perry signed, his present in his lap. _Do I smell cookies? Because if so, I think we should have those before we open our gifts,_ he grinned at Heinz, setting his present down on the coffee table and slowly backing into the kitchen, waiting for Heinz to answer.

He faked a sigh. “ _Fine_ ,” he huffed and crossed his arms. In reality, however, he was grateful for the delay. The more time he had before Perry opened his gift the better. Plus he got to spend more time with him. It was a win-win.

Perry’s face lit up and he turned and went into the kitchen. He sat down and let out a laugh as Heinz put the cookies on a plate for the two of them and poured two cups of tea.

 _Platypus cookies? Really?_ he laughed, picking up one and biting down, his mouth making a comical “o” shape and a look of exaggerated bliss on his face. _I take it back, these are wonderful and I have no idea why I ever doubted you._

Heinz responded with a laugh and a wink, and the two sat there and talked for awhile. It was mostly small talk, Perry telling Heinz about the boys’ latest idea to make animatronic snowmen that could go to space. Heinz ended up rambling on about some Christmas party incident from a few years back that even he was barely paying attention to, but when he looked up, he saw Perry paying rapt attention and staring at him, which caused Heinz to stumble over his words and blush.

The two ended up back on the couch after they had finished as many cookies as they could reasonably eat and cleaned up. Heinz’s heart rate sped up, and he prayed it wasn’t noticeable. They handed each other their gifts, Heinz’s hands shaking furiously. At this point, his level of nervousness was completely over the top and unnecessary, but he couldn’t help himself. He looked down at Perry’s gift to him, wrapped up in Frosty the Snowman wrapping paper. Heinz had used a platypus-print wrapping paper, and he didn’t regret it at all, especially as he watched Perry smile fondly at it. Tentatively, he went to open his gift, making sure to watch Perry unwrap his out of the corner of his eye. Perry got to his first. Heinz watched as Perry arched an eyebrow and let out a little huff of laughter, shaking his head.

“Wha… what’s wrong?” Heinz stuttered, his heart pounding frantically. “D-did I get something wrong? I thought-”

 _Nononono,_ Perry quickly signed, shaking his head. _You didn’t do anything wrong.  Just… open your gift._ He gave Heinz a soft smile that simultaneously calmed his nerves yet kept his heart in overdrive.

He turned his focus to opening his present, finally getting the paper off despite his shaking, and he held the present in his lap. The-

He burst out laughing. “You, you got me the same exact thing, didn’t you Perry the Platypus?” he sputtered out, laughing more as Perry nodded his head.

Soon both of them were doubled over, giggling like madmen, and neither really knew why. Perry clutched his side and slapped his knee, he was laughing so hard. Heinz’s laughter started to subside before Perry’s, and he looked up at the man in front of him, eyes crinkled at the corners, a wide smile gracing his face, and his chest heaving. He let out a few more huffs as Perry’s own laughter died down, being hit with the sudden realization that no matter how much he thought he loved Perry before, he loved him in this moment more than he had ever dreamed was possible.

Realizing he was staring, he quickly averted his eyes and looked back down at his present, running his hands over it. It was a dark purple photo album (the one he got Perry was black with some blue highlights he’d added himself), and when he opened it, he saw the first picture. It was a side-by-side of the two of them, one from their first day as nemeses and one of their most recent ones. It had a note written on it in black marker that said, " **From loathing to loving, here’s to the years we’ve spent together and many more. -PtheP** "

Heinz would be lying if he said he didn’t tear up a little. He was dying to flip through the album and read all the notes that he noticed were by the pictures, but just then he looked up and saw Perry holding open the card he’d put inside the cover of his album, reading it. He gripped his leg tight enough to hurt, trying to calm down. He remembered clearly word for word what he had written, given that he’d rewrote it just about twenty-four times.

**Perry the Platypus,**

**Gosh, where do I begin? From the moment you first blew up one of my inators to the last time we had pizza together, we’ve grown so much. Animosity turned into a weird friendship that turned into now. I genuinely can’t say how much your friendship means to me, as I’m sure you already know. I’ve never had someone like you in my life. I’ve never been lucky enough to have someone beside me without being forcedto be there, or someone there regardless of what I could do for them. Just… there. With no strings or lies or abuse attached to that. And that means more to me than you could ever know. Thank you so much, Perry the Platypus, for always being there-even when you were my nemesis-and for sticking it out with me throughout all these years. **

**Here’s hoping for more, Dr. D.**

He could never say any of that out loud, of course, but he wrote it and now Perry had read it. Slowly he looked up at Heinz, who looked back although he was terrified of what he might find. He meant every word of that note, and he trusted Perry, but still. Laughter, hatred, disgust? They were all things he was used to and it wasn’t like Perry the Platypus didn’t have reason. But all he saw were tears and a wide smile.

He was thrown back into the arm of the couch when Perry lurched forward and enveloped him in a hug. He stiffened for a second before returning the embrace and burying his head in Perry’s shoulder. His heart clenched. Perry hugged him tighter.

“I, uh, guess you liked the card, then?” he said.

Perry huffed and pulled back, wiping his eyes. _Yes, I did. Thank_ you _for being here for_ me _, and thank you for the card._

Heinz responded by smiling back at Perry and reaching out to squeeze his hand, a common gesture between the two. Perry’s hand felt warm and slightly wet with tears. He felt his body release a bit of the tension he didn’t know he was holding at the comforting familiarity of his hand in his.

His eyes wandered over to the clock behind Perry. With a jolt, he remembered the snow storm that was supposed to hit around three that he’d forgotten about when making his plans. They had spent more time talking than he thought. It was five thirty.

“Fuck,” he whispered, jerking his hand out of Perry’s and running over to a window. “ _Fuck_.”

Perry had followed him. _What’s wro_ -, he stopped, seeing what Heinz was seeing.

The ground was covered in snow. At the very least it looked like eight inches, and the snow was still falling heavily, and fast. It would be impossible to see farther than one’s own hand if you were out there. The snow was billowing around in violent flurries, the thick blanket on the ground growing higher and higher with every passing second. Driving in this blizzard would be impossible, not to even think about flying. Perry had walked here, and though he could get his hover car to him in a mere five minutes, there was literally no option to leave at this point in the storm.

“Fuck. I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention to the time and we were _tal_ king and _eat_ ing and opening _gifts_ and I just-”

Perry shushed him. _Heinz it’s fine. I’ve stayed the night before and I still have stuff here. It’s no big deal._

“But- but it’s Christmas Eve and you should be with your _family_ , Perry, not me.”

Perry’s face softened. _Heinz, you know I consider you family completely. I don’t mind staying here at all._

“But-”

_No but’s. It’s fine Heinz, I swear. I like staying here with you, anyways._

Heinz was blushing at this point, and he still felt bad, but he nodded and nervously stepped away from the sudden close proximity to Perry he found himself in. He saw Perry frown slightly at that, but instead of sticking around to let Perry figure it out, he turned around and walked away from the window. He saw Perry get out his phone, likely to text his family and let them know what was going on.

“So, uh, I guess I’ll uh, find us a movie to watch for the night,” he said, looking over his movie shelf. “Since it’s Christmas _Eve_ , how about…” he trailed off, trying to find his Christmas movies. “Ah! Here we go. How about Rudolph the Red-Nosed _Rein_ deer? The 1964 one?”

He looked back at Perry, who made a sound of disgust. _That’s the cheesiest one, Heinz. Come on._

He scoffed. “Well, now we’re definitely watching it, no exceptions. I’ll go make some popcorn.”

Perry rolled his eyes but went to the closet to get out some extra pillows and blankets. This was a normal occurrence for them by now. Perry goes to Heinz’s house to watch a movie, Heinz makes popcorn or trail mix or orders pizza, and Perry sets up the endless amount of pillows and blankets needed to get comfortable if it’s cold outside. If it’s not cold, he just sets up the fans and the sheets they use, but given the reason he was staying over, that wasn’t really applicable. Heinz smiled at the thought of this being a sort of tradition for them. Something that was just theirs. A normal, domestic movie night tradition. His heart fluttered at the thought.

A few minutes later everything was set up and they were settled in with a few bowls of popcorn scattered over the couch with them, the movie starting up. They had turned the lights off and Heinz blinked a bit to adjust to the brightness of the screen. Looking over, he noticed that Perry was only a bit more than an arm’s length beside him, two popcorn bowls shoving him from the end of the couch (where he never really sat anyways). His legs were curled in under him and he had a blanket wrapped around his back, his hair messy from the static of all the blanket. Heinz thought he could stare at him all night, the movie be damned, but Perry glanced over at him and Heinz quickly looked back at the screen.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, and Heinz started to yawn. He burrowed down even farther into the blankets and was just starting to doze off when he noticed that Perry was closer. Somehow throughout the movie, Perry and Heinz had shuffled together.

Perry let out a yawn and set aside some empty popcorn bowls, adjusting himself to where his head was resting under Heinz’s arm.

Well, he sure as hell was awake now. He felt his face burning, and it spread to his upper chest, which was drumming fast and  _loud_ like some annoying marching band. He _knew_ Perry could feel it.

He tried as hard as he could to focus on the movie, watching as Rudolph talked to some bunnies and raccoons. He wasn’t entirely sure what was going on, but anything was better than focusing on the warmth of Perry’s body, on how easily he fit with Heinz, how his hand was less than inches away and how nice it would feel to hold them, how his lips were just a tad swollen and likely softened by the buttery popcorn, how nice it would be to _kiss_ those lips-

No. Stop. Those thoughts would only lead to trouble and sadness, more of which he definitely did not need. He turned his full attention back to the movie and pushed down his feelings. He could pine some other time when he was alone.

Within a few minutes his drowsiness had returned tenfold, and he began yawning some more as his eyelids felt as if they were tied to bricks. He knew it was early, only around six thirty, but he’d woken up at four that morning and, granted, had had a pretty emotional day. He was beyond spent.

Without thinking or even noticing what he was doing, Heinz cuddled up against Perry more and grabbed his hand, closing his eyes with a set internal goal of sleeping. Perry looked up at him, but Heinz barely saw him.

“Mmm ya know Pu'rry the Pl-mmhmh-us,” he slurred out, already being pulled under into unconsciousness, “ ‘a love you. Like, like not inna _friend_ way, ya’know what I mean? Like...like love love. Yeah,” he giggled. “Mmmmg’night though, 'm love you.”

And with that, he was out, not even seeing the looking of utter shock on Perry’s face and the helpless smile that immediately followed.

* * *

The next morning Heinz woke up and felt _cramped._ He stretched out his limbs and felt the chill of the air outside his blankets, quickly covering himself back up. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, a glance at the clock told him it was seven in the morning. Or the afternoon, but it was likely morning, given the lack of light coming in through the window. He rolled over and-

“Umph!” he grunted as he fell off the couch. Gosh, what a way to wake u-

Wait what? The couch?

He looked around at the stacks of blankets and pillows around him and the Rudolph DVD on the coffee table in front of him. Last night’s events came rushing back to him. The cookies, the storm, the movie, the popcorn, the-

Oh _fuck_. He whipped his head around, looking for any sign of Perry. Great. He wasn’t there. Heinz had literally just… confessed his love in the middle of a damn _children’s Christmas movie_ , and now it was Christmas day and he’d scared Perry off and lost the one real friend he’d ever had, along with the love of his life.

He sat up and buried his head in his hands, feeling the familiar yet stronger than ever violent pang in his chest and his stomach twisting, his body going weak. His eyes burned with hot tears that threatened to spill into his hand. Throat tightening, he fought the urge to throw up or scream or both, instead choosing to curl in on himself and throw his blankets over his head. Maybe if he stayed in there for a week he’d stop feeling as if he’d been punched in the gut. Maybe if he stayed in there forever he'd stop existing. 

He was so stupid how could he do that? How could he just… ruin his life like that?

He heard a sound coming from his kitchen and some footsteps followed by a worried and confused noise. Reluctantly, he came out from under the blankets and came face to face with a very much  _there_  Perry.

“P-Perry the Platypus. What are you-” he stammered through his sore and choked up throat, “What are you _doing_ here? I thought… I thought after last night you’d, you’d be gone. Well, uh, I’m sorry for it then, I guess. I mean, I’d like to say I was _lying_ or whatever, but uh, ha, you’d see right through that I mean you’re a trained secret _agent_ and all so… But um, you didn’t have to- I mean you can leave. N-not that I want-”

He was cut off as Perry grabbed his face and smashed his lips against his. Heinz sputtered in surprise for a second before returning the kiss, a million thoughts racing through his mind but for once the soaring of his heart stopping them, the softness of Perry's lips and the hands on his cheek and side distracting him even more. He put his hands on Perry's shoulder, pulling him in a bit more. 

He wasn't sure how long they were there like that, the tears on his face drying and the kiss growing in intensity, before he pulled back. He rested his forehead against Perry's for a second, feeling as if he was flying but simultaneously confused as hell. “Does this mean you…?”

Perry just smiled and nodded. He leaned in and placed a softer kiss on Heinz’s lip, making Heinz lean forward slightly with longing when he pulled away.

 _I made you breakfast_ , he signed, a _nd I would love to stay and eat it with you, but my family is outside to pick me up and I know Linda will kill me if I keep them waiting much longer this early in the morning. Plus I’m sure Vanessa is already on her way._

Perry grabbed his photo album and his card. He tucked them under his arm, bending down to kiss Heinz one last time before leaving and smiled.

_I’ll come over tomorrow. Merry Christmas Heinz. I love you too._

**Author's Note:**

> Can you tell I like movie nights? Jeez. Sorry not sorry though <3  
> Thanks so much for reading!! Kudos and comments are appreciated c:  
> Merry (late) Christmas to all who celebrate, and happy non-Christmas to everyone else c;


End file.
